Louis St. Lewis
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Louis St. Lewis ( January 17,1961-) is an American artist, writer and composer
St. Lewis was born in Charlottesville Virginia to Ruth ( nee Thompson) and Frank Washington Lewis, a decendent of Betty Washington, sister of George Washington and a distant cousin of Merriweather Lewis of Lewis & Clark fame. He spent his childhood in the rural town of Wadesboro, North Carolina. His mother read Robert Frost and Edgar Allan Poe to him as a child, and St.Lewis made notebooks of writings and drawings throughout his childhood. St. Lewis' talent was recognized at an early age. He was enrolled in the gifted and talented program at Western Carolina University at age 12. St.Lewis pursued his education at several colleges and universities and was expelled or dropped out of all of them, including, Wingate College, Campbell University , Stanford University and North Carolina School of the Arts where his classmates included photographer David LaChapelle and musician Sean Yseult. In 1984, the artist settled in Chapel Hill, NC with his partner Roger Messer, a former member of the Weathermen organization who had been indicted for conspiracy to overthrow the Government of the United States in 1972. Louis St.Lewis is primarily known for his work in collage and assemblage. The artist is often drawn to themes of current events and his exhibitions have featured artworks based on Jean Benet Ramsey, the Challenger disaster, September, 11 and the beheading of Daniel Pearl. Celebrated artist Judy Chicago awarded St.Lewis 1st place in the 51st. annual DAG juried art contest and stated that his creations " are the strongest assemblage I have witnessed in decades". St. Lewis was photographed by artist Andy Warhol in January of 1985 when he commented that St. Lewis' artwork was " Like Hieronymus Bosch meets MTV", and was sketched by artist Robert Indiana at his studio at Vinalhaven, Maine in 1993.
Noted for his innovative use of materials from human blood to Pexiglass, Louis St.Lewis recently began a collaboration with former White Zombie bassist Sean Yseult. Their collaborative company, Lewis & Yseult, has exhibited in Paris, New Orleans, North Carolina and New York. Noted art critic D. Eric Bookhardt stated in the New Orleans Gambit Weekly" The collaborations of St.Lewis and Yseult conveys and uncanny mix of glamour, sex and antiquity. They meld surrealist imagery with the pulsations of alternative rock". The exhibiton "12 Inches of fame" was featured at CBGB's 315 gallery as a fundraising event for the punk rock venue. The artists paintings and collages are in the permanent collections of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, The New Orleans Museum of Art, The Morris Museum of Art and the Masur Museum of Art.
